Not the People’s Daily

Above is a mock/humorous edition of the overseas edition of the People’s Daily currently circulating on the net. Every country has its nationalist nutters of course. But there’s something particularly scary to non-Chinese about this sort of thing, which seems to reflect a combination of patriotic pride and lingering resentment over past wrongs (Opium War etc) that makes for a very volatile brew in a nation whose power and influence are growing so strongly. Historians sometimes cite similar mix as being prevalent in Germany between the wars. That’s not to say China will turn into Nazi Germany. Just that it will be fascinating to watch attitudes change in coming years. I’d guess that as the country’s self-confidence grows there’ll be less of this sort of thing, which speaks more of insecurity than anything else.

Here are the headlines (thanks to David Cowhig for permission to use his translation):